Did You Know? Food Calories and Drink Calories are NOT the same!

Unless it's milk, your beverages should not be contributing any significant number of calories to your diet. I recently caught a commercial on TV for ClearOnCalories.com and just as the name states - it's all about making calories levels, specifically in beverages, clear and understandable to the consumer. I applaud the beverage industry on this initiative and I encourage the public to use the information they provide to you!

The American Beverage Association’s Clear on Calories initiative is in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” anti-obesity campaign. What I really love about this initiative is how they display the information. The calorie count is right on the front of the beverageAND it’s the number of total calories for the entire bottle/can, not just a “per serving” number! It doesn’t get much clearer than that! Whether it’s 200 calories or zero calories in a bottle, all drinks will have to display their number.

The question now is, how will consumers react to this? It’s my hope that even if you don’t understand much about calories or how many calories your body needs, you will still be able to see that one beverage has more calories than another and that it’s best to choose the lower calorie product. Most people are aware that high calorie intake is associated with weight gain so the connection can be made by young and old, nutrition-educated or not.

There have been other groups that have been pushing for front-of-label packaging, but it’s harder to do with food because calories are not the only number you should consider when choosing a food. Beverages are a little easier to summarize because, like I said, your beverages should not be contributing any significant number of calories to your diet. Your body doesn’t register these calories the same way it does food calories and therefore they don’t ever really make you feel full, despite the fact there could be hundreds of calories in there.

I think it is great that this information is now clear for all to see. I am excited to have this tool available to myself and to the people I counsel on diet choices and weight loss. Next time you pick up a drink, look for the Clear On Calories label and use it to make a better beverage decision!